We were lucky to catch up with Tiffany Johnson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tiffany, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I always say that tax accounting found me; I did not find tax accounting. My journey began in college when my parents went through a tough time financially and told me I needed to find a job. My boyfriend at the time (now husband of 18 years) suggested I try a temp agency. Within a week or two I was placed with an overwhelmed CPA who needed some front desk help during a busy tax season. I started working for that CPA firm, and the rest is history! The day I accepted that receptionist job, little did I know that I would find my mentor, my career, and eventually, my calling.
After some time, my boss, Fred Selwyn, became my mentor. Although I was not studying accounting in college, he saw something in me and decided to nurture it. He paid for me to take accounting classes at the local community college after I graduated with my B.A. from UCLA. Fast forward several years, once I completed my courses not only in accounting but also in Financial Planning at UCLA Extension, he offered me a partnership in the firm. I gladly accepted and was happy to continue to work under his mentorship as he taught me not only the ropes of accounting but also of self-employment.
In 2022, my mentor retired and I purchased the rest of the firm from him at which point, The Onyx CPA Group, Inc. was born. I rose from receptionist to owner of the very firm where I began my career. After taking over the firm, I realized that there was a huge need in the accounting industry to train and mentor young women of color who were looking to break ground in the accounting industry. I learned that less than 1% of CPAs are black (even fewer are black women). Thus, a key mission at my firm is to train and empower women who have struggled to get their foot in the door in the tax and accounting industry.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
At my firm, we hire, train, and empower women staff members to tackle complex tax strategies for our clients. As a 100% women-led team, we believe by elevating women, we can truly strengthen women’s voices in our industry, where women (especially women of color) have been historically under-represented.
Our firm hosts a monthly workshop, HerVenture Growth: Charting Beyond Six, where we empower women business owners to take their businesses to the next level through strategic growth practices, tax planning, and cash-flow management. During our workshop, we highlight other woman-owned accounting firm owners who have specialties in areas we do not. This gives other women in accounting the opportunity to highlight their firms and potentially gain potential clients as a result of attending our workshop. Attendees walk away with real-life metrics trackers, tech stack recommendations, book recommendations, a trusted advisor master list, networking opportunities, and so much more. Future workshops will feature industry-specific businesses to assist those in specific niches.
As my mission and purpose have evolved, I have been so honored to be recognized for my efforts. I was honored in 2022, as the recipient of Comerica Bank and the Los Angeles Lakers, Women of Diversity award winner where I was recognized for my efforts to champion diversity for women in business. I was also incredibly honored to be recently named in the Top 50 Women in Accounting in 2024 by Ignition.
In addition to my passion for elevating women in the accounting industry, I also serve every year on the Santa Monica College Executive Professional Panel for the Annual Santa Monica College Accounting Diversity Conference. As a panelist, I am allowed to give students of color advice on how to break into the accounting industry. After the panel, all panelists attend a luncheon where we have the opportunity to speak with the students directly and answer their questions on what it is like to work in the accounting industry. This event is always such an honor to be a part of and I look forward to making a positive impact on the students every year. I am proud to say that I am still serving as a mentor to one of the students who attended this panel in 2020. He is now a Senior at EY and is on track to continue to grow in his role and become manager within the next two years.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Vision, empathy, and a systematic approach have served me well in my journey. Since I was a young partner in my firm, I had a vision to deliver exceptional advisory service to our clients, holistically and comprehensively. I’ve been told that I have a gift for explaining complex concepts in a way that people can truly understand. It’s such an honor to hear this, as this was always my vision as a young partner who was just filing tax returns each busy season. I knew our firm could be and do more and now we are a full-service tax planning and tax strategy firm serving successful executives in the tech industry and ambitious business owners.
One of my main goals is to lead with empathy in all that I do. Whether serving my clients, training my employees, or collaborating with colleagues, I think it is extremely important to put myself in others’ shoes and try to understand where they are coming from. This quality has really set me apart from my other professionals and it’s one I take great pride in.
Lastly, a quality that has really helped in my journey is being systematic and intentional in my decision-making process. I truly try to approach everything in my firm and in my life with a systematic, step-by-step approach, allowing for organized and consistent decision-making that’s rooted in a reliable process. Although this process can be time-consuming, it does help set myself and my firm up for success as we scale and grow (also helps me sleep better at night)!
What I would say to the younger generation of women accountants is this: This industry needs your voice! As an industry traditionally dominated by men, women’s voices, ideas, and innovations are vital in ensuring that the accounting industry has a future where young, talented, and smart students want to pursue accounting as a career. Don’t be deterred. The resources are there. The networking is there. The support is there. We are waiting for you to come find us! As a firm owner who has an all-women team, I can personally attest to all of the innovative and brilliant ideas that each of these women brings to the table each week during staff meetings and monthly business development days.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
We are always looking to collaborate with financial advisors, attorneys, and bookkeepers to give our clients the best service possible. We have a vast network we call our “Trusted Advisors Program,” in which we get to know other financial professionals whom we think would be a good fit for our clients who are in the market for these types of professionals.
One unique thing about our firm is that we require our clients to have a dedicated financial advisor. This allows for what we call “Dynamic Planning,” which is just a fancy way of saying our team works with our client’s advisor team to make sure that the planning we are doing for our client is complimentary in nature. We loop our client’s financial advisors into to the tax planning meetings to ensure we are all working on the same page with the client. It’s a win win win!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.onyxcpagroup.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-m-johnson-cpa-cfp%C2%AE-300a19ab/?trk=public-profile-join-page
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
